BOSIA AND HERZEGOVINA

THE MISERY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA’S REFUGEES

​

This year we started volunteering for Arsenale della Pace, an organization that aims to spread love and gives a sense of community to people who faced tough situations by donating them everything they might need, from a simple place to sleep to a stable job. A particular case that impressed us was the condition of misery that the Bosnia and Herzegovina refugees were going through. 

Before collecting items for them and doing the actual charity work, we found out about their tragic state. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country in southeastern Europe, located in the western Balkan Peninsula. Many European countries were affected by the migratory wave that peaked in 2015. In North Africa and the Middle East, civil conflicts, bloodshed, and weak governments pushed people out of their homelands. The influx of migrants has necessitated the establishment of refugee camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which shares land borders with the European Union. 

New newcomers are generally unwilling to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina for economic and social reasons. Their primary goal is to enter European Union countries. However, the issue has become more problematic as a result of the Croatian authorities' stringent border restrictions and the European Union's sluggish readmission process. Croatian border police have been accused of violence against asylum seekers and migrants by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights organizations in recent years. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Bosnia and Herzegovina has five fully operating Temporary Reception Centers. 

Despite humanitarian aid from the EU, UN agencies, and Bosnian and Herzegovina's government, the poverty level of people in refugee camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains quite high. All camps, particularly during this time of year, lack the most basic requirements for hosting people. Residents of the camps have been living in tents created by 

the Bosnian and Herzegovina military since the main camp in Lipa was destroyed by fire. The refugee camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina give the bare minimum of protection from the harsh weather, with an average of 13 people living in each tent. 

The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is deteriorating, as a result of an institutional crisis sparked by Serbian-Bosnian leader Milorad Dodik, a member of the confederal presidency governing the former Yugoslav republic, who threatened to withdraw his component from the armed forces and form an exclusively Serbian army within Bosnia and Herzegovina.. 

Even though their problem is not spoken about and no awareness is raised by the media, Arsenale della Pace still chose to help that desperate community by sending them clothes for children, men and women of any age. Thus, we encourage all the readers to contribute to donations and assist others in need, since there are people who suffer greater problems.

​

​

​

​